The Cleveland Browns compiled a 5-2-0 record before meeting the Pittsburgh Steelers for the second time this season. Despite beating the Steelers 27-24 in Cleveland in Week 4, the Browns were taken to the woodshed in the rubber game by losing 27-6.
The game pitted two teams that had identical records and were tied for the AFC North Division lead. Now, Pittsburgh sits atop the division all alone, while the Browns are now situated in third place after the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Tennessee Titans
to grab second place.
RELATED: RUN DEFENSE IS SCARY
What did the Steelers’ loss teach the Browns’ fanbase? Their coaching staff? The front office?
Here are five things likely learned:
The Browns will not be giving QB Deshaun Watson a contract extension
Cleveland’s coaching staff has not hinted at benching Watson for the season. He has been a roller coaster and just isn’t any degree of the elite signal-caller he once was with Clemson and the Houston Texans. And now, he is on concussion protocol, which means he will have to sit out at least one game.
This year is Watson’s first without getting injured while playing for the Browns; then he was placed in concussion protocol on Wednesday. To date, he hasn’t completed a full season despite being a roster member since 2022. He has missed a total of 57 games. Realistically, he has had only two great games with Cleveland: Week 10 in the 33-31 win over the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, and the Week 7 27-24 victory over the Titans this year.
Watson has had a few good games this year with exceptional completion percentages in several games, including 80.0% (Bucs), 72.7% (Jaguars and Steelers first game), and 69.4% (Titans). All five triumphs in the win column this year were orchestrated by a comeback win by Watson.
There were rumblings that perhaps if the Browns made the postseason, the front office should re-sign him to an extension and keep him going forward. Those thoughts were questioned when Cleveland lost to a lesser team, the New York Jets. In that contest, Watson had a 45.5% completion rate and struggled against a defense that challenged a clean pocket.
The Steelers this past weekend used that blueprint and made Watson appear minimal on passing downs. They exposed Watson’s inability to get to safety once the pocket walls began to crumble. Pittsburgh also showed that Watson could not finish drives, especially when the drive concluded in the Red Zone. After the first quarter, Watson was 1 for 2 for three yards passing and no points on the board. At the half, he was 9 for 13 for 107 yards, was sacked four times, and his offense had just two field goals. To put an exclamation mark on sub-par play, Cleveland failed to score any points in the second half.
Despite Watson being mentioned for the league “Comeback Player of the Year,” those views have now dissipated.
The defense’s soft spot is right up the gut
The Steelers ran for 200 yards, with RB Jaylen Warren doing much of the damage (143 yards). The majority of these yards were up the middle of the defense.
Repeatedly, MLB Carson Schwesinger was moved out of position by either a blocking tight end crossing from the corner or an offensive lineman who pulled and led the running back through the hole provided.
Look at the above clip from the first quarter. The right guard took out DT Maliek Collins and moved him to the right while the center blocked down on DT Mason Graham, then released as Steelers’ LG Mason McCormick had pulled and finished blocking Graham and kept pushing him to the left side. Suddenly, there was a big hole. Meanwhile, the center, Zach Frazier, pulled and led Warren into the hole and attacked Schwesinger.
At the same time, the RT, rookie Max Iheanchor, went to the second level and engaged LB Quincy Williams and walled him off completely.
Now, Warren is at the second level, and the only players he has to be concerned about are the safeties and the left corner, Denzel Ward. Receiver Brandon Smith took out Ward’s angle, and Warren was able to run right by him. S Grant Delpit came up, and Warren made a move around him. The tackle was finally made on this play by CB Tyson Campbell, who had lined up on the opposite side when the play began and ran all the way across the field. Schwesinger assisted, having trailed. Warren peeled off this run for 51 yards and set up the Pittsburgh offense into field goal range.
Up the gut all day long. Block the defensive tackles to the left and right, send an offensive lineman to take out Schwesinger, and suddenly the play is off to the races with good downfield blocking.
Here is a breakdown of Pittsburgh’s run selection:
- Around right end: 1 play
- Between right tackle/right guard: 3 plays
- Up the middle: 19 plays
- Between left tackle/left guard: 1 play
- Around left end: 4 plays
Breakdown of the Steelers’ up the middle gains:
15 yards, 9 (TD), 15, 51, 0, -2, 4, 23, 5, 6, 1 (TD), 2, 3, 13, 2, 1, 4, -1, -1
The Steelers gave every opponent left on the Browns’ schedule a blueprint of how to attack their defense.
TE Harold Fannin is the best player on the field for Cleveland
The Steelers’ strategy was to take out the Browns receivers and not let them hurt them. That worked. It did open up the match for TE Harold Fannin, who once again had a monster game. And Pittsburgh seemed fine with that. They already knew that the Browns could not run on them with their #7 ranking against the run. They just didn’t want to get burned with long passing plays to either Denzel Boston, Jerry Jeudy, or KC Concepcion.
Boston had six receptions for 37 yards, Jeudy had zero catches, and Concepcion hauled in three catches for 37 yards.
Fannin had 12 targets, 10 catches for 154 yards. Fannin isn’t really a serious deep threat, although his YAC yards are always good every single game. Fannin has 411 receiving yards, with 233 being YAC numbers. He is a human bowling ball going down the field and tough to bring down.
With Myles Garrett now gone, the question was asked before the season began as to who was the new face of the Browns. It is Fannin.
Thank goodness for a good kicker
Kicker Andre Szmyt has taken drives that stall out and converted them into points. He has missed just two field goals, both in the 40-49 range, and is 2-for-2 with kicks of 50+. Very calm guy who simply walks onto the field and will nail the game-winner. 11 of 12 on PATs.
Cleveland has scored 139 points, of which Szmyt has accounted for 59 (43%). Accounted for all the scoring against the Steelers.
Cleveland’s offensive line is a problem
This offensive line has only one alteration since Week 1 on a permanent note: OT Austin Barber was inserted at right guardin place of Teven Jenkins, who remains out because of back issues. So, it is not a continuity problem. Collectively, this group just isn’t very good.
On passing downs, the Steelers collapsed the pocket from the inside. This was accomplished by bull rushing the center and both guards, which pushed the pocket backwards. When Watson decided he needed to exit the pocket, the edge rushers were right there, giving no escape route. This happened over and over. Eight sacks against Pittsburgh, and another eight against the Jets. How many times did you notice Watson trying to leave the pocket and then run right into a defender?
Rookie Spencer Fano is having a good year, but he does collect laundry. He had two holding calls, but only one was accepted. He is good at both run and pass blocking. RT Tytus Howard’s fan nickname while with the Houston Texans was “Mr. False Start,” which he added to his collection against Pittsburgh. He is just an average run blocker.
Barber is ranked #24 at the right guard spot among 75 qualified players at his position. But he will get shoved aside on occasion by much bigger defensive tackles. C Elgton Jenkins is an excellent pass blockerand team leader. LG Zion Johnson is holding his own.
So, what exactly is the issue? Starting two rookies may be one issue, but really, neither player is playing badly. Yes, this is a group that was thrown together this year, but realistically, they had all of training camp, preseason, and now eight games to form some sort of cohesiveness. Each player’s Pro Football Focus grades are either average or good, but nobody is stinking it up. Communication breakdowns?
Whatever it is, the pocket just isn’t staying together very long at all. No matter who the Browns stick back there, if he doesn’t have time to survey the field and find open receivers, but instead is leaving the pocket and running for his life, the remainder of the schedule is going to be brutal.
What do you think the team learned from the Week 8 loss?
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